ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, November 21, 1996 TAG: 9611210027
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG
SOURCE: LISA APPLEGATE STAFF WRITER
A tired, irritated Montgomery County School Board narrowly agreed Tuesday night to renovate Blacksburg Middle School, rather than build a replacement on the outskirts of town.
The 5-4 vote was made in a late-night, last-ditch effort to break a stalemate involving the overcrowded school.
The board also decided to cut some costs on the new elementary school in Riner, in which construction bids came in $2 million higher than expected. But the proposed cuts will not affect that shortfall. Instead, they would allow the School Board to pay for a larger gym, something the community has pushed for since the school design was released this summer.
Because the Board of Supervisors must pay for these school building projects, some School Board members thought they were forced into the Blacksburg decision. The impasse has been one of the factors holding up decisions on new schools in Shawsville and Christiansburg.
"If you're doing this because you feel like we're being intimidated, then don't do it," said member Wat Hopkins, after Roy Vickers made his first motion to renovate.
That motion failed, as did three others. But as the 11:30 p.m. adjournment neared - and after member David Moore threatened to leave - the renovation passed on the fifth try.
A month ago, the Board of Supervisors passed a resolution stating it wanted to keep Blacksburg Middle at its present site downtown. At subsequent meetings, and at a joint meeting with the School Board, no supervisors would clarify whether that resolution meant a new school on the site or a renovation of the present building.
About 900 signatures sent to the boards a few weeks ago asked the school not be renovated. Many parents worried that keeping students in a school under construction would disrupt learning and jeopardize safety.
Several months ago, a different petition with 600 signatures asked that the boards keep the school downtown because of its proximity to Virginia Tech and town facilities.
At one point in this yearlong struggle, the School Board did support building a new school on the present site and tearing down the 40-year-old building. Some supervisors made it clear that they thought that option would waste a structurally sound building.
School Board members Vickers, Barry Worth, Mike Smith and Moore argued that the Board of Supervisors wouldn't accept any option other than renovation. Those four, along with Jim Klagge, pushed the motion through. Klagge, who represents parts of Blacksburg including the Hethwood and McBryde Village neighborhoods, had not previously supported renovation.
Klagge could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
Supervisor Jim Moore, who proposed the resolution asking the school stay at its present site, said he was pleased some action had been taken and was ready to support the renovation.
He even hopes to see cooperation between the town of Blacksburg and the county when it comes to Bill Brown Stadium, the Blacksburg High School football field that sits behind the middle school. One of the provisions of the School Board's decision was to move the field away from the middle school. The town chipped in funds to provide soccer fields at Kipps Elementary School, he said, and something could be worked out for the football field as well.
The other provision was to renovate the middle school with as little impact on children as possible.
"That's do-able," Jim Moore said. "It might mean having to do some work at night ... There's a whole pile of variables there."
Brownie Cauley, a science teacher at Blacksburg Middle who has been through two other renovations of the school, said he would believe it when he sees it.
He said many teachers feel frustrated by the School Board's reversal, and wonder how dust, noise and equipment couldn't have an affect in the classroom.
Cauley wonders how the building could be changed enough to incorporate the middle school philosophy of having teams of students grouped together in classroom pods. Still, most of the sixth grade sits in trailers behind the school because it's too crowded. For that, Cauley said he's glad to see some action.
"I think people are sort of worn down by all this and and they're happy to see something moving," he said.
Along with the Blacksburg Middle School decision, the School Board still has to send the Board of Supervisors a request for an additional $1.56 million to pay for the new school in Riner. That's in addition to the $6.7 million already allocated for the project.
The board will choose between several cost cutting options - like $10,000 for sod or about $4,000 for trash cans - to pay for the larger gym.
LENGTH: Medium: 87 linesby CNB